Huffington Post: Another Sign That Momentum Is Building On Paid Parental Leave In The U.S.

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In the latest sign that support for paid family leave is growing in the U.S., Adobe on Monday announced a big expansion of benefits, including up to half a year of paid time off for new mothers.

In addition to the unusually long maternity leave, the San Jose, California-based software company will also offer U.S. workers up to four weeks of paid time off to care for a sick family member, 10 weeks paid time off for surgery, illness or medical emergencies, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave for fathers and employees who become parents via adoption, surrogacy or foster care.

Announced in a blog post Monday morning, the benefits will go into effect on November 1 and will cover about 6,000 U.S. employees. Currently, new birth mothers at Adobe get 9 weeks of paid leave, while other new parents get two weeks of paid leave for adoptions, surrogacy or foster care.

“In the U.S., government mandates for paid leave are currently slim to nonexistent,” wrote Donna Morris, Adobe’s senior vice president of people and places, in the blog post. “That means companies must navigate the tough balance between supporting employees during major life events and meeting business goals.”

This year has marked a real turning point in the push for parental benefits in the U.S., which is the only developed nation that does not offer paid leave for parents. Companies and local governments are stepping in to fill the void left by a lack of federal policy.

“2015 has been a banner year for work family policy,” Eileen Appelbaum, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told The Huffington Post. “There’s an enormous amount of momentum behind paid family leave."